BY DAYO DOHNSON

AKURE—THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,  in Ondo State is enmeshed in another internal crisis over the candidature of its governorship candidate in the last election, reasons for the party’s defeat and how campaign funds were disbursed

Director General of the campaign organisation, Dr. Dare Bada was the first to fire the salvo in a statement in Akure when he said that wrong “candidature, poor funding, lack of financial commitment on the part of the candidate and bad leadership of Dr. Agagu, caused the failure and loss of the PDP in the last Ondo State gubernatorial election.

Immediately after the defeat of the party in the last election, the leadership of the party was polarised as they accused the candidate of not declaring the actual amount released by the Presidency for the conduct of the election and that he was imposed on the party by the former governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu.

This rumbling pitched the candidate against others led by the Director General who publicly, weekend, alleged that the former governor, Dr. Agagu  and his goons fixed Chief Oke as the candidate of the PDP, which, he said, was not  for altruistic reasons but for political manipul- ations and monetary gains.

Bada declared that “while Dr. Agagu did not want to lose his position as the prima donna of Ondo State PDP, he cunningly threw  up Chief Oke who surreptitiously craved a ministerial slot.
“Loyal members of the party innocently sacrificed their all in the interest of party loyalty without knowing that they were being taken for a ride and  that they had become mere pawns in the chess board of a cabal of self-centred political gladiators.

“The picture of Chief Oke shaking hands with President Jonathan which was distributed to party members and conspicuously hung in front of the secretariat was part of the ploy  to deceive members that Oke was the choice of Mr. President.

Bada added: “Oke had made  powerful enemies during his tenure as legal adviser and had therefore become a liability to the party, a situation that favoured  Agagu’s schemes.
“I repeat the facts that wrong candidature, poor funding, lack of financial commitment on the part of the candidate and bad leadership of Dr. Agagu caused the failure and loss of the PDP in the last Ondo State gubernatorial election.”

But the PDP candidate speaking through the party Publicity Secretary, Wale Ozogora absolved Dr. Agagu by saying that he was never part of the selection process that led to the emergence of Chief Oke.

“The truth was that the aspirants themselves met and agreed on the formula that was used which threw up Chief Olusola Oke as a consensus candidate,” he said.

Ozogoro alleged that Dr. Bada was yet to account for N65million appropriated to his office as Director General of Oke Campaign Organisation after the election.